Subscribe
E-Paper
.jpg/dims/resize/150/optimize) |
Citizens above the age of 19 may now legally possess 30 grams of marijuana in public areas, and the same amount may also be shared or distributed to other people. Plants may also be grown at home and various edibles cooked and produced.
Strict laws have been introduced and are designed to heavily penalize those found guilty of distributing the product to people under 18, and there seems to be a public awareness that this is something for consenting adults rather than the whole swathe of society.
With many American states, the Netherlands, and Portugal having come before it, is it something that might be considered in South Korea?
Coincidentally, it was here in the east of the Korean Peninsula that people would talk about marijuana growing in the fields. Gangwondo was the region in which the old-timers could simply reach out of the bus during the 1960s and grab a handful of the plant.
That all changed during the mid-1970s with the enactment of the 1976 Cannabis Control Act. President Park Chung-hee, deciding to clamp down on its use, imprisoned a host of public figures.
Shin Jung-hyeun was one of the more notable examples of this punishment, sentenced to jail for four months for being a "daemacho ringleader". Shin had previously refused to write a song in support of Park.
Somewhat more recently, the actress Kim Bu-seon caused a stir when she called for marijuana to be legalized on national TV. On an MBC show in 2009, Kim said marijuana use did not cause users to commit crimes, and that it might aid people in their battles against depression and other health conditions. She also has been arrested for marijuana use joining a roll-call of celebrities that includes Cho Yong-pil, Lee Seung-chul, Psy, G-Dragon, and T.O.P.
Now in 2018 is South Korea ready once more not to fear the reefer?
The answer must come from Korean citizens at the societal level and not merely related to individual comfort. Man is not an island. Many of us might find personal relaxation or comfort in the idea of being able to sit back and watch Mr. Sunshine with a Camberwell carrot in our hand, but what about the other 51,000,000 people who inhabit the nation?
South Korea has a rising unemployment rate among its youth. Data released from the Statistics Office this week showed unemployment to be at its highest level in 10 years, with almost one-in-10 of all young people (15-29) out of work.
As someone tasked with guiding generations of undergraduates in the university system here, I cannot see how the legalization of the herb would assist in tackling this very serious problem.
And youth unemployment has been accompanied by a steady rise in the "hon" culture: the concept of doing things alone. Now, nearly 30 percent of Koreans live alone. This is a staggering figure considering the historical collective nature of the society and all that it brought with it, for better and for worse. Again, I do not think the presence of marijuana in society is likely to reverse this trend. Rather, it might make more people retreat into smaller and smaller apartments to be alone with their thoughts and Rizla papers.
Nor do I notice any great clamoring for it among our youth. Having spent a lot of time on university campuses as well as more than a decade in the underground music scene, there is not a large visible sub-culture waiting for acknowledgement or mainstream acceptance. Conversely, many seem to speak out against it.
In a petition put to the Cheong Wa Dae website last year regarding the legalization of marijuana, only a very few people spoke out in support. There were only 1,885 digital signatories, far short of the 200,000 required for government consideration. With fewer than 2,000 people publically championing it from a population of more than 50,000,000, we are looking at percentages akin to Elizabeth Warren's claims to Cherokee heritage, so these pipes of peace may still be a long time coming.
I feel that many of the loudest voices for its legalization -- or perhaps rather its use here -- will come from outside western observers. The first and probably loudest comment will be concerned with the prevalence of drinking and the dangers of soju when held in comparison. Other suggestions might concern themselves with the art and creative industries being strangled by large overbearing corporations.
The topic of legalization, or even the discussion of it in Korean society, remains very much one for the Koreans, however. It is up to society to decide whether it is now ready to consider the herb once more following its economic and societal democratization in the past decades.
Economic and cultural issues would suggest to me that it is not the right time. But who knows, maybe in 10 years the MBC will have a show called Trailer Park Yangbans.
David Tizzard (datizzard@swu.ac.kr) is an assistant professor at Seoul Women's University.
